You Know, Support Groups Boy
by Lamia of the Dark
Summary: Jack calls Marla after his apartment explodes, and actually talks to her. Thing is, he never told her his name so he is forced to identify himself as Support Groups Boy. Jack and Marla living together! Jack x Marla. Now complete.
1. Phone Calls When Jack Has Balls

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fight Club, and would not want to belong to one if one existed.**

-- You Know, Support Groups Boy --

"Hello?" she answered the phone. There was no answer. "I know you're there, I can hear you breathing, pervert."

"Hi, Marla," came the hesitant voice at the other side of the line. "It's Jack..."

"Jack?" she repeated blankly. Who the fuck was Jack?

"You know, support groups boy," he elaborated, since she didn't seem to remember who he was.

"Ohhhhhhhhh," she breathed. "So, your real name's Jack?"

He smacked himself in the forhead. He'd forgotten that he'd never told her his real name.

"Yeah, listen, I know this is going to sound strange but my apartment just burned down and I don't have anyplace to stay..." His voice trailed off. This was a bad idea, he should have known better than to actually call her.

"Sure, come on over, I'll give you the address," she said, stopping his self-destructive thought process in its tracks.

Maybe it hadn't been such a bad idea after all. In fact, maybe his apartment getting blown up wasn't completely terrible after all...


	2. Home Sweet Shithole

**A/N: I've decided not to leave this as a oneshot, because honestly I can envision the story going on from there.**

-- You Know, Support Groups Boy --

Jack arrived at Marla's apartment with only the small amount of possesions he'd had with him while traveling.

"Where should I put my suitcase?" he asked nervously as she let him into the apartment.

"Just throw your shit anywhere," she anwered lazily. Her apartment was a total mess anyway. "Oh, and I hope you don't mind, but you're going to have to sleep with me," she added.

"I- what?!" he asked in startled confusion.

"There's only one bed," she answered. "So unless you want to sleep on the floor" - which was practically invisible under all the crap piled everywhere - "we'll have to share."

So that's what she meant. She hadn't been asking him to pay her with his body...

"Oh," he said awkwardly. "I wouldn't mind that at all."

She grinned. His nervous awkwardness was _so cute_.

This was going to be fun.


	3. That First Night: Jack and Marla In Bed

-- You Know, Support Groups Boy --

That first night was very awkward. The mattress was a double, which does not fit two people very well, especially when they are both adults and one of them is being very careful not to come into excessive amounts of physical contact with the other. _Some_ touching was unavoidable, of course.

And it didn't help that Marla fell asleep pretty quickly, leaving Jack awake with only his insomnia and various insecurities to keep him company.

It also didn't help that Marla was one of those people who move around a lot in their sleep.

Laying on the floor after having fallen out of bed, Jack decided to rethink his "no-touching" rule. Marla obviously didn't have a problem with it. She was the one who'd invited him to share the bed with her in the first place.

Of course, Murphy must hate Jack, because he hadn't had time to get up and get back in the bed when Marla woke up. She peered down at him and asked, "What are you doing on the floor?"

"I, um," Jack mumbled, embarassed. "I kind of... fell out of bed..."

Aw, how cute. He was blushing.

"I think you're laying on a dildo."

And she thought he was blushing _before_...

**A/N: The "Murphy hates Jack" line is a reference to Murphy's Law. And since a dildo made an appearance in the movie I see no reason not to mention one here. **


	4. Can't Work Late, Must Buy Tampons!

-- You Know, Support Groups Boy --

The days passed and turned into weeks which turned into months. As time went on, the awkward stay-on-your-own-side sharing of the bed turned into awkward cuddling which then turned into non-awkward, affectionate cuddling.

Jack, who found he had less trouble falling asleep when he was curled up next to Marla, was perfectly content with the state of things as they were now.

Marla, who found herself becoming more and more attracted to the strange young man who'd invaded her life, was still hoping for things to progress further, into sex.

--

Jack was just getting ready to leave work when his boss came into Jack's cubicle and told him he needed him to do... Well, whatever it was the boss wanted him to do, Jack had already stopped listening at that point.

"Sorry, sir," Jack said. "But I can't stay. My girlfriend called and asked me to pick up some tampons on my way home and that is definitely more urgent..."

And the sad thing was, Marla actually _had_ called and asked him to buy tampons.

-tbc-


	5. Everyone Thinks You're Dead

**A/N: longest chapter yet!**

-- You Know, Support Groups Boy --

Marla was waiting for him when he got home.

"I hope I got the right ones," he said, pulling a small blue box out of the grocery bag.

There'd been a whole aisle devoted entirely to feminine care products, and there were so many different varieties available he hadn't known what kind to get. A woman had come into the aisle and saw him standing there staring at the tampons, and he'd gotten flustered and said, "I'm not a pervert! It's just that my girlfriend wasn't very specific and I don't know which type she needed and..." And he'd trailed off, blushing. The woman had taken pity on him and pointed out a package marked _regular_, telling him that was his best bet if his girlfriend hadn't asked for anything specific.

"Thanks," Marla said, kissing him on the cheek. She plucked the box from his hand and disappeared into the bathroom. When she came out, Jack was in the kitchen putting away the rest of the groceries into the cupboards.

"Are you still going to support groups?" he asked curiously when he saw her come into the room. He'd stopped going to them because he wasn't having trouble with insomnia anymore, which was the reason he'd become addicted to support groups in the first place. He'd never really been sure what Marla's reason for going to them was.

"Yeah, but I haven't been to any of our old ones in a while," she answered. "It's kind of awkward, since everyone thinks you're dead." Of course they did. He hadn't shown up to any of the groups in months. He kind of missed Bob. "I could tell them what's going on with you if you wanted me to," she offered. She didn't think he'd take her up on it, though. He'd never used his real name at groups, or really told them anything about himself.

"No, that's ok," he said. "If I decide to go back to any of them, I'll just say I've been in the hospital."

"I found a new one I thought looked interesting," she said. "They're meeting tomorrow. Want to come?"

"I'm not really into it that much anymore, but sure, if you want me to..."

He really was _too_ sweet. That's what she loved about him.

"Tomorrow, then. After you get home from work."

-tbc-


	6. Jack Becomes a Battered Wife

**A/N: This chapter turned out so LONG I could hardly believe it. I guess because I've finally decided on a plotline. Over 1000 words. (longer than the first five chapters put together, lol.)**

They were the last ones to arrive. The other group members were already seated in a circle of gray metal folding chairs. Men on one side of the cicrle, women on the other. Most of the men looked like they spent a lot of time either in jail or strung out on drugs. Most of the women looked small and timid, and some looked downright embarassed to be here.

Jack and Marla stood awkwardly just inside inside the doorway until the group leader stood up and said, "Oh, good, you brought your partner this time... Marla, you can come and sit next to me. Jack, sit across the circle from your partner."

"You told her my name?" he hissed so that only Marla could hear.

"She asked when I came before," Marla hissed back.

There wasn't time for a more detailed explanation as they were headed in different directions to take their seats.

"Why am I sitting with the women?" Jack asked, looking around in confusion. "Wait, what is this? This isn't what you told me!" His voice was rising in panic.

His questions were greeted with silence. The group leader was looking expectantly at Marla. Seeing this, Jack also shifted his gaze to Marla.

Marla bit her lip. "This is... abuse. Couples therapy... for abusive partners," she said hesitantly.

She sounded uncomfortable. It took Jack a moment to realize why. He was seated with the wives and girlfriends, the _vicitms_ of abuse. Which made Marla the abuser in their relationship.

Marla seemed much less enthusiastic about the idea now that they were actually here. She looked like she was having second thoughts as to how enjoyable this would turn out to be.

The group leader - her nametag said _Rosemary_ - started off by having everyone introduce themselves to the new couple. Then she went over stress relief and anger management techniques with them. After that, the couples were asked to report on their progress. Most answered that it was the same as usual. Some of the girlfriends tried to say that it was a little better, but were gently coerced into admitting that it was not better, and in some cases it was even a little worse.

"Lies and denials will not help your partners recover," Rosemary admonished the fibbing girlfriends.

The girlfriend sitting next to Jack - _Clarissa_, according to her nametag - admitted that things weren't getting any better for her, either. "But he's trying!" she declared proudly. "He really is trying."

Across the circle, her boyfriend - Marco - looked appropriately ashamed at having failed.

After that they quietly reflected on their own actions. (Either their own _abusive_ or _submissive_ actions, depending on which side of the relationship they were on.)

When quiet reflection time was over, Rosemary said, "Now, who is ready to cross the circle and share their feelings with their partner?"

The group leader looked expectantly at the abusers' side of the circle and for a tense moment no one made a move. During that moment Jack was thinking to himself that each and every one of those men was probably going to go home tonight and kick the shit out of his wife or girlfriend for dragging him here.

Then Marla stood up.

She crossed the circle to where Jack sat and knelt in front of him. She placed her hands on his knees and looked up at him. He could see that she was genuinely upset. The kind of emotional distress that permeated this place was different than what they'd experienced in the disease support groups. That despair had been freeing. This despair was cloying, constricting, choking...

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "I don't mean to do this to you." These weren't words from her to him. These were the words she wanted to hear these men say to these women. Words they wouldn't say. Yet still these women would stay with these men, without any validation of their own feelings. She knew in her own mind that she wasn't _really_ the abuser in an abusive relationship, so where was this overwhelming feeling of guilt _coming_ from? "I love you, Jack. I don't want to hurt you."

And then she was crying and he was crying. This was different from the crying they'd done at disease support groups. That was hopeless crying. This was the opposite of hopeless crying. This was desperately-clawing-your-way-towards-that-one-last-ray-of-hope crying.

He pulled her into his lap and she locked her arms around his neck and as they sat there sobbing their hearts out into each other's shoulders, the most amazing thing happened.

Marco crossed the circle. He told Clarissa he was glad she stuck around this long, that he wanted to get his anger under control, that he thought they could make things work...

And one by one, the other abusers approached their partners.

After group ended, Rosemary cornered Jack and Marla and told them she was glad they'd decided to come, that as a couple who'd sought help on their own they were an inspiration to the other couples, who were all here as part of court-ordered therapy. She smiled and shook their hands and told them she'd see them next week.

Jack and Marla mumbled their goodbyes and got out of there. That had been a disaster. They weren't coming back next week.

When they got home they kept close to each other, following, hovering, clinging. Cuddling. Making out. It was like they couldn't get close enough to each other. It was like they couldn't get enough _of_ each other.

And when they woke up the next morning...

"Last night was incredible."

They were _definitely_ going back to group next week.

**A/N: Yes, the line "This is abuse" was stolen from Monty Python's Argument Clinic skit. The names of group members are random. Sorry to any of you who are actually named Rosemary, Marco or Clarissa...**


	7. Another Clever Chapter Title

**A/N: It has been FAR too long, my lovelies~ **

-- You Know, Support Groups Boy --

Marla looked in the bathroom medicine cabinet, then at the half-empty box in her hand. She looked in the medicine cabinet again. That couldn't be right.

She kicked open the bathroom door and shouted, "Jack, how often have you been buying tampons?"

"One box a month," Jack said, coming out into the hallway so he could talk to her without yelling across the apartment. "Why, are you out?"

Marla shook her head silently and pointed.

Jack looked where she was pointing - into the still-open medicine cabinet. In addition to the half-used box, there were three unopened boxes of tampons.

Meaning that Marla hadn't had a period since... oh, about the time they first had unprotected sex after abusive couples therapy. Well, that first time was really the only time they hadn't used protection, but it seemed the damage had already been done.

Jack stared without quite comprehending what this development signified.

"I think... I want to keep it," Marla said hesitantly, sounding vulnerable.

And that statement brought the reality of the situation crashing down on him.

Marla was pregnant... _and she wanted to keep it!_

-tbc-


	8. Worst Plot Twist Ever

-- You Know, Support Groups Boy --

Jack woke up alone in his crusty bedroom in the Paper Street Soap Company house.

_I feel like I had a long, strange dream. I can't really remember what happened, but I get the feeling that it wasn't that bad. It was one of those dreams that once you wake up, you realize you want to go back to that world... only you can't, because it was something your mind created while you were asleep_.

Tyler plopped down on the bed beside him.

"That was some acid trip, huh, buddy?"

-end-


End file.
